Former Legal Adviser to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Abaka Essuman, has criticised Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson over what he describes as the government's failure to pay outstanding arrears and entitlements owed to staff of the Presidency who served under the previous administration.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, July 23, Mr Essuman said it was unreasonable for the Finance Minister to have presented four budgets, including two mid-year budget reviews, without settling the payments that, according to him, became due in January 2025.

“Mr Finance Minister, Hon. Ato Forson, reading FOUR budgets including two mid-year reviews without paying the staff of the Presidency, who served the last administration their arrears and entitlements which fell due in January 2025, and yet paying the current staff of the Presidency, is utterly UNREASONABLE,” he wrote.

Mr Essuman argued that while employees serving under the current administration had been paid, former Presidency staff who served the Akufo-Addo administration were still waiting for their outstanding benefits, describing the situation as unfair.

He called on the government to honour the outstanding obligations, saying former public servants who had duly served the state should receive the arrears and entitlements owed to them without further delay.